Feature Articles

Projectors - BenQ, Canon & Casio

When Buying a Projector...

In general, an LCD projector has a greater light output (measured in lumens) than DLP. Getting a bright projector makes more sense if you’re buying it as a presentation tool. You might have also noticed that many expensive home theater-oriented projectors list a lumens value lower than that of entry-level, business-oriented projectors. That’s because, for movie watching, sufficient brightness, and not high brightness, is more important.

Another spec to look out for is contrast ratio - this basically means the number of levels between the blackest black and the whitest white a projector can achieve. This is a spec that is typically in DLP’s favor. And to throw a spanner in the works, contrast ratio is a more important spec for a home theater projector. But here’s the thing: in a classroom or boardroom setting, the room is usually not totally darkened. Some ambient light is often needed for the students to take notes, or to facilitate eye contact between the speaker and the audience. In such a scenario, the advantage of a high contrast ratio becomes less relevant.

Over time, projectors will fail or perform below par for various reasons: dust built-up, mechanical failure, and end of lamp life are the more common ones. It’s wise to find out what kind of maintenance needs to be done before signing that cheque. Some of the questions you can ask the friendly salesperson are: Is the filter easy to remove, clean and replace? How does one change the lamp?

BenQ (AceCom, Booth 5F41)

BenQ MW512

The MW512 is a WXGA (1280 x 800 pixels) projector with a brightness rating of 2,800 lumens. Contrast ratio is rated at 4000:1. Weighing 2.3kg, this DLP 3D-ready projector has a 6,000-hour lamp life. At Sitex, when you buy this projector, you'll receive another projector, the MS510S. The latter is a 2,700-lumen DLP projector with an SVGA (800 x 600) resolution. How's that for a deal?

Canon (Booth 6D41)

Canon LV-8235 UST

The LV-8235 UST is Canon’s first ultra-short throw projector, and it has the world’s shortest throw distance of 32cm for an 80-inch image. Using a compact DLP engine, this 2,500-lumen, 1280 x 800 pixels beamer can also project on surfaces like a table or a floor. 3D projection is possible too. With an optional interactive kit, users can quickly change the standard projector into an interactive setup.

Canon LV-8320

The LV-8320 is a compact projector with a native WXGA (1280 x 800 pixels) resolution, 2000:1 contrast ratio, and 3,000 lumens brightness - making it suitable for education use. It has a 1.6x manual zoom lens, is fitted with a 10W speaker and an RJ-45 port for network connectivity. An HDMI input is also provided for digital sources. Other features include Simultaneous Projection Image (Picture-in-Picture or Picture-by-Picture).